Leafs Nation and Sens Army will commiserate at Heartbreak Hotel this weekend.

Two teams which began the season with bright playoff hopes and an improved chance of renewing their rivalry in a series thanks to re-alignment, now gird for one final Hockey Night in Canada game with nothing at stake, but also-ran status.

Tied at 84 points and unable to catch the wild-card teams, they might not know who gets bragging rights in the Battle of Ontario until Sunday when the Sens end their schedule against Pittsburgh.

“This is not where you want to be,” Senators winger Clarke MacArthur told the Ottawa Sun’s Don Brennan. “We’ve been fighting it all year. They’ve kind of had a taste of (success), they’ve had their and some serious downs.

“We’ve kind of been right in the middle the whole year. Both sides have got to be frustrated.”

While the Sens were at Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, the Leafs stayed downtown at Carlton University where some loyal fans managed to find their location and form small audience. They watched a long-serving Leaf such as Nikolai Kulemin, who might be done after Saturday’s game as an unrestricted free agent.

The team photo, snapped just a couple of weeks ago, could be out-dated in a hurry.

“There is always that thought, no matter where your team is, bottom or top of the standings ” winger James van Riemsdyk said. “Especially when there is a salary cap. There will be some kind of turnover ... you know it could be the last time you ever play with some of these guys.”

When the season ended last year, as short as it was because of the lockout, the talk was the Leafs were on their way up as a young team that was developing an identity. They came within 10 minutes of doing something truly remarkable in Game 7 of the playoffs in Boston, but never sustained that chemistry long enough. Now it might be too late to consolidate, even for a player such as Kadri, who will hear trade rumours again.

“It’s unfortunate, we have a good group of guys and wish we could stay together,” Kadri said. “But that’s not our decision to make. Obviously, there will be some evaluating done over the off-season, but all we can control is working hard and getting ready for next year.”

First comes the Ottawa game, which should still have an edge to is with a few thousand Leaf fans in the building. The Sens have won three straight, but always face stiff opposition at home from Toronto.

“It would be nice to go into the summer on a winning note,” van Riemsdyk said. “That’s what we’re basically playing for now, the pride.”

Phil Kessel can still hit 40 goals, but only if he gets a hat trick. Tyler Bozak and Mason Raymond are each a goal away from 20. James Reimer likely starts in net against a team he’s done very well against since breaking into the NHL.

On the Sens side, Jason Spezza might be playing his final home game on Saturday amid rumblings that he is on some wish lists from teams in the West. Young enforcer Matt Kassian would no doubt like one more encounter with Leafs rogue Colton Orr if the chance arises.

MacArthur might have been glad to have the Leafs out of the race after he was cut from Randy Carlyle’s team in the summer, but the Sens’ situation means there are no winners on Saturday.

“If anyone gets traded or leaves their team, that would be the last thing I’d want to see,” said MacArthur, who had a one-time solid second-line role with Kulemin and the departed Mikhail Grabovski. “It’s not like I’ve been sitting here rooting against them all year, but at the same time I’m not upset that they aren’t in. Natually I’m not.

“It’s a tough league, tough to win every night. We weren’t able to get any traction this year, it felt like. We had a couple of little winning streaks, then we’d counter with some nice losing streaks.”

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Leafs-Senators a battle for nothing

Leafs Nation and Sens Army will commiserate at Heartbreak Hotel this weekend.

Two teams which began the season with bright playoff hopes and an improved chance of renewing their rivalry in a series thanks to re-alignment, now gird for one final Hockey Night in Canada game with nothing at stake, but also-ran status.

Tied at 84 points and unable to catch the wild-card teams, they might not know who gets bragging rights in the Battle of Ontario until Sunday when the Sens end their schedule against Pittsburgh.

“This is not where you want to be,” Senators winger Clarke MacArthur told the Ottawa Sun’s Don Brennan. “We’ve been fighting it all year. They’ve kind of had a taste of (success), they’ve had their and some serious downs.

“We’ve kind of been right in the middle the whole year. Both sides have got to be frustrated.”

While the Sens were at Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, the Leafs stayed downtown at Carlton University where some loyal fans managed to fi